"Sick Cities: Why Urban Living Can Be Bad For Your Mental Health" By Leo Benedictus
This article starts out by looking at an experiment conducted by The Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany to study the effects of stress on different people's brains. The data collected revealed that compared to people living in a countryside environment, city dwellers are much worse at handling stress. Another study looked at in the article, is one led by Dr Jaap Peen, where it was concluded that risk of schizophrenia is roughly doubled when you live in an urban setting. As well as this, it was discovered that making your home in a city raises your risk of anxiety disorders by 21% and your risk of mood disorders by 39%. From all this data we can see that, "the larger the settlement you live in, the more likely you are to become mentally ill". It is claimed that all of these issues produced from urban living can be traced back to one of society's largest problems: loneliness in the crowd.
The city's habit to make us feel lonely even when around a large amount of people greatly contributes to the reasons why urban living is causing an increase in mental illnesses among inhabitants. In cities, it is rare to not be surrounded by people almost everywhere you go. Yet, there is no connection with anyone, no matter how close you are physically. It is great to spend some time truly alone, but it's not healthy to have people all around you and still feel like the only person in the world. When in an urban setting, people tend to hide in the crowds to avoid having to communicate with others. This refusal to connect is the root of the city's ability to sicken your mind. This lack of connection, this social isolation in such a socially dense environment, is putting our minds through unnecessary stressors and resulting in a related surge of mental illnesses. The city really can make you sick.
The city's tendency to cause problems within your brain are actually most drastic during childhood, when you are most vulnerable. Many behavioral and underdevelopment issues are being caused as a result which can be seen in the next artifact.
The city's habit to make us feel lonely even when around a large amount of people greatly contributes to the reasons why urban living is causing an increase in mental illnesses among inhabitants. In cities, it is rare to not be surrounded by people almost everywhere you go. Yet, there is no connection with anyone, no matter how close you are physically. It is great to spend some time truly alone, but it's not healthy to have people all around you and still feel like the only person in the world. When in an urban setting, people tend to hide in the crowds to avoid having to communicate with others. This refusal to connect is the root of the city's ability to sicken your mind. This lack of connection, this social isolation in such a socially dense environment, is putting our minds through unnecessary stressors and resulting in a related surge of mental illnesses. The city really can make you sick.
The city's tendency to cause problems within your brain are actually most drastic during childhood, when you are most vulnerable. Many behavioral and underdevelopment issues are being caused as a result which can be seen in the next artifact.